Risk of Incorrect Pressure in Agricultural Tires

To ensure the quality of farming and preservation of your land, the right pressure in tires is crucial. Over-inflated pressure in tires results in yield loss, lower quality results, and excess operating costs. Root development of the crops planted is adversely affected, development of microbial life is limited and stagnation of water is encouraged. Also, it comes to excessive spin and high resistance to forward movement due to the “step” effect, caused by ruts. All that results in excess fuel consumption, time wasted and wear on machines and tires and other losses in farm management. Incorrect pressure may affect your comfort (verinflation causes bouncing and vibration, underinflation causes power handling) and your agricultural tires. In the table below are sown some effects of incorrect tire pressure:

Pressure too high — Pressure too low

Excessive soil compaction — Risk for tire casing durability

Extensive rut formation — Rotation on wheel rim

Excessive spin (overconsumption) — Irregular wear on roads

Fast, irregular wear on roads — Overconsumption on roads

High risk of tearing tread blocks — Vehicle instability

Uncomfortable ride

The right pressure means an optimum soil contact and therefore a larger footprint which causes spin and penetration to be reduced. To calculate the right pressure there’re four criteria’s:

1. The sizes of tires and their characteristics (load and speed index)
2. The maximum speed at which you use your machines
3. The total weight supported by your tires – machine weight+ weight of tools+ load transfer
4. Operating use: cyclical or non-cyclical.

Use this formula to calculate tire pressure

A = B * (C / D) ^ 1.25

A= the tire pressure you want to know B= the maximum tire pressure, which you can find on the tire C= The actual weight on the tire D= the maximum load for the tire also can be found on the tire in lbs, kg, or load-index